TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

matthewjamesgraham Still after all these years, platoon is my favourite movie. Sheen, Berenger and Dafoe are so good in this. No lie seen it 15 or so times. Highly recommended. Awesome music soundtrack and memorable scenes like when Elias is running from the enemy alone

The Movie Diorama This is actually rather intelligent, both in its plot and technical execution. It's the Vietnam War, we follow a platoon of US soldiers as they attempt to wipe out the enemy. The question that this film raises is: who really is the enemy? You have the conflict of the war itself (America against Vietnam) but within the platoon is a conflict for authority. Split between what is right and what is wrong, the moral implications of this war have taken effect on several soldiers as they question their choices. This was a smart element to include within the plot, it was easier to establish character development and build some tension. The majority of the characters were sufficiently developed and their personalities had charisma. This was mostly down to the great cast. Willem Dafoe was easily the best performance, Tom Berenger was also decent and the heated chemistry between them was well conveyed. Charlie Sheen however, didn't work for me. His acting ability consisted of monotonous dialogue delivery and shouting, perhaps he was overpowered by the rest of the great cast? I don't know, just felt meh. Didn't help that his biggest battle was with nature...we're talking ants, leeches and other insects. Obviously, animals love abit of Sheen. Oliver Stone's direction was solid, very realistic and gritty. The makeup effects were practical, the wounds and blown up limbs looked pretty damn realistic. A standout scene was the raiding of the Vietnamese village. This was the turning point where actually the American side were perceived as the antagonists, clearly communicating with our inner moral compasses. Effective, very effective. This is easily one of the best war films I've seen and winning Best Picture was fully justified.

Dominic LeRose "Platoon" has Oliver Stone's creative name written all over it. His brash characters, deep message, and seemingly obsession with the Vietnam War is piled up into an epic war drama that thoroughly examines human nature. Charlie Sheen, while not a great actor, plays a wide-eyed soldier who wants to do good for his country and the world around him, who through his fellow soldiers sees the harsh realties of guerrilla warfare and the first-hand honors of the Vietnam War. In a monumental and iconic role, Willem DaFoe delivers his best work while Tom Berenger is stellar as the evil platoon leader. "Platoon" is a film with a clear message that's shown through its characters and scenarios in gritty detail and with shocking effect, making it one of the best films of the 80s and a war classic.

slightlymad22 Continuing my plan to watch every Johnny Depp movie in order, I come to Platoon (1986)The first of Stones Vietnam trilogy. Stone wrote the screenplay based upon his experiences as a U.S. Infantryman in Vietname to counter the vision of the war portrayed in John Waynes The Green Barets. Platoon was the first Hollywood film to be written and directed by a veteran of the Vietnam War. Stone fought for years to get this movie made. Studios didn't want to make another movie about the unpopular war and considered Deer Hunter and Apocolypse Now as the definitive Vietnam movies, and saw no reason to make this.This really is harrowing viewing, but it's not only the best movie of 1986, its one of the best of the decade.This movie reminds us, that before he became a tabloid fodder and punchline on late night talk shows Charlie Sheen was once a very promising young actor. His voice-over is eerily reminiscent of Martin Sheen in Apocolypse Now. Willem Defo, Tom Berenger (both playing against type and both Oscar-nominated) John C. McGinley, Kieth David (an actor I always enjoy seeing on screen) and Forest Whitaker are all superb. The part of Sergeant Barnes was originally offered to Kevin Costner. Although pretty unknown and a few years away from fame, he turned it down because he didn't want to disrespect his brother, who was a Vietnam veteran. Depp (his helmet reading, "Sherilyn", a tribute to Sherilyn Fenn, whom Depp was dating at the time) is OK, but he fades into the background against the bigger performances, despite a key scene.Not only did Platoon win Best Picture and Best Director for Stone, it grossed $138 dollars at the domestic box office to end 1986 as the 3rd highest grossing movie of the year.